


Sins Of The Rogues

by dillonmania



Category: DCU (Comics), The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Flash Rogues, Gen, Seven Deadly Sins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-08 22:41:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1958811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dillonmania/pseuds/dillonmania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brief studies on some character flaws.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sins Of The Rogues

**Author's Note:**

> Warning of some references to domestic violence and death, all stuff covered in canon.

**Lust**

Len’s weakness for beautiful women was well known amongst the Rogues and the many ladies he wooed. He’d proposed to more women than he could count, seeking the love he’d missed during his childhood and a safe outlet for his desires. The objects of his affection rarely reciprocated the interest, however, so he frequently found himself alone and discouraged. It was quite humiliating, especially because the other Rogues had much more dating success than he did, and some even taunted him about it. He felt anger growing with his increasing sexual frustration, and that worried him: he feared he would turn into his violent father, and decided his previous tactics just weren’t working.

Once he’d finally realized he was never going to settle down with a woman, he turned to prostitutes to satisfy his needs. It was a way to get sex without the volatile emotional issues that had characterized his family life, something which he’d always suspected was sabotaging his attempts at a genuine relationship. He made certain he always treated the ladies right by acting kind and paying well, and sometimes even took them on paid dates as if they were real girlfriends. It settled some of his personal demons and ensured he was never truly alone, bringing him a measure of happiness during a period in his life which saw very little of it.

 

**Gluttony**

Digger had many vices, which were often a source of both amazement and disgust for the other Rogues. They openly wondered if he could commit every sin known to man within his lifetime, and general consensus was that he was well on track to succeed. Perhaps his history of excessive drinking paled in comparison to this, but it was one for which he was quite infamous. He drank regularly and usually too much, and wasn’t even good at holding his booze (which was secretly a source of shame to him). The other Rogues always egged him on so he felt no peer pressure to moderate his habit, and it was just plain _fun_. He loved telling drunk stories almost as much as the drinking itself.

As he grew older, his habits of excessive eating and drinking began to catch up with him, and the moderate exercise of his daily routine wasn’t enough to work off all the calories consumed. He started to gain weight, and was stubborn enough that he didn’t want to cut back his food and alcohol habits. The Rogues and other villains criticized his growing waistline and over-indulgence, but he didn’t care. It was his own life and he was determined to do what he wanted. Besides, guys in his line of work couldn’t expect to last too long anyway, so he liked to paraphrase “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die”. Digger had never really been one to read the Bible despite all his mother’s efforts, but he’d always seen great wisdom in those words. They were the ones he lived by right up until the very end.

 

**Greed**

Sam loved acquiring things, especially through theft. It had started as a mere vocation (burglar) and soon became a near-obsession. His adult life was spent in a continuous cycle of crime: creating inventions for robbery, followed by the grand performance of spectacular thefts, and then going to prison. It was all so important to him that he’d preferred to leave a world where he was worshipped as a king just so he could return to larceny; existence was simply too boring without the spice of living by his wits and taking things which didn’t belong to him. He didn’t even really care what the items were, just so long as he’d gotten something over everyone else.

Not that he didn’t appreciate the finer things in life, of course. His hoard of fancy mirrors was the envy and bane of museums and fellow collectors everywhere -- because it had originally belonged to them. He went to great lengths to steal any expensive mirrors which caught his eye, as he felt compelled (and entitled) to own them. His special collections were kept hidden in a pocket dimension, safely stashed away from caches of ordinary loot and the long arm of the law. It would have been devastating to lose them, so they were afforded extra protection that he didn’t even give himself. And thus they remained preserved there for eternity after he was killed, a silent testament to their master’s infatuation.

 

**Sloth**

Mark lived a life filled with inertia and wasted potential. His older brother Clyde had spent years pleading with him to quit petty crime, but Mark couldn’t be bothered to get an education or a job; crime was easier, and paid fairly well. And Mark ultimately had the last laugh, because Clyde’s lifetime of work never benefited him personally and his shiftless brother simply waltzed in and took it all after his death. 

Mark promptly spent the next few years wasting the new abilities granted to him by the weather wand. There were certainly crimes, and some were even a bit awe-inspiring, but he rarely did more than the same meagre thefts he’d always committed. Police files expressed the officers’ relief that he’d never decided to apply himself or dream big, as they were well aware of the havoc he could have caused. Despite having the power of a god, he was little more than an annoyance to the world.

That all changed when he met Blacksmith. She slyly lit a fire under him when she informed him of his son’s existence, banking on him finally getting the motivation to change his perspectives. But even then he lacked the drive and will to improve his skills, and once again it was she who taught him. In the end, Mark owed everything he’d ever accomplished to the hard work of Blacksmith and Clyde, and yet he rarely recognized this or understood that he could have done it himself. Drunken moments of self-reflection were the only times he truly realized what great heights he could have achieved if he’d applied himself…but those epiphanies soon passed, and it was easier to coast rather than struggle. Besides, he always had other things he’d rather do.

 

**Envy**

Roy’s life had revolved around resentment and yearning for as long as he could remember. Everyone else had things he believed he deserved for himself, and the desire burned so badly within him that he could almost taste it. He craved to experience the concept of colour as soon as he was aware of its existence, and it seemed tremendously unfair that he was denied. Other people -- such stupid, artless people -- could see colour, so why couldn’t he? It was a cruel injustice, and he often resentfully fumed that the ability should be taken from undeserving others and given to him instead.

When he grew older, he found a new source of bitterness: his lack of success. Hacks like Paul Morris stole from him while he languished in obscurity, and he watched people with half his skills eclipsing his own career. Others got fame and fortune, and he was simply laughed at. Why didn’t people understand his talent, and why didn’t he get the recognition he deserved? It wasn’t fair, and he would have done anything to take what was rightfully his. Eventually he became a supervillain and attained a small measure of the fame he’d craved, but it wasn’t the same -- and people still laughed at him anyway. He seemingly couldn’t excel at anything, while other villains commanded fear or respect with barely an effort. There were times when he hated his fellow Rogues for their success, but he still wanted to be accepted as a colleague…because perhaps their reputation would rub off on him. 

 

**Wrath**

Lisa had been hurt by many things in life, both physically and emotionally. She’d been beaten by her father, her mother hadn’t protected her, and then her brother Len walked out and left her alone with their abusive dad. Everyone who was supposed to care for her had let her down in some way. She could have been crushed by it all, but quickly learned to cope with her feelings via anger. That made things hurt less and it was better than being a victim, and ultimately drove her to escape her awful home and forge a successful career. For a time she didn’t need the anger at all, and it began to fade. She mostly forgave her brother and was finally happy as a world-renowned skater in a loving relationship, which taught her that people didn’t always have to hurt each other. Life was good.

But it didn’t last. Soon her boyfriend was dead at the apparent hands of the Flash, and she quickly threw away everything she’d worked for in order to get revenge. It didn’t matter what Len told her about the futility of the scheme, because she was going to make the Flash hurt as much as she did. Rage drove her to extreme acts of attempted murder and near-suicide, but it was never enough. She hated the Flash for taking everything good from her life, and used him as a proxy for all the pain she’d suffered long before meeting him. The anger kept her from breaking down completely over the cruelty and hurt she’d endured, and it kept her going. She needed it to survive.

She found herself temporarily adrift once the Flash had died from unrelated causes. There was nothing to continue fuelling her, but by then she’d dealt with much of her grief and had learned to cope. She was on a permanent hunt for her father and planned to kill him if he was ever found, but he managed to stay hidden and eventually even her determination for that began to fade. It seemed pointless to obsess over it, and she decided she could perhaps move on and be happy again with a new series of boyfriends. Too late did she realize that the anger could have kept her safe, and unfortunately she didn’t live to regret the mistake.

 

**Pride**

Few people doubted that Roscoe had much to be proud about, but most faulted the lengths to which he took it. He was renowned for an overbearing arrogance and disdain for those deemed inferior (which was nearly everyone), while his gloating and snide attitude rarely endeared him to others.

It was because of this behaviour that not many people took time to understand the source of his pride. His intellect and raw powers were obviously great, and he had built dozens of technological wonders. But people rarely discerned his immense pleasure at being self-made and independent, having taught himself everything he knew about science and the art of spinning. And although he would never admit it to anyone else -- not even Lisa -- he was most proud of no longer being a failure. In his younger days, he hadn’t lived up to his parents’ expectations of academic success and smooth social skills, which was a bitter disappointment to the entire family. He’d always been painfully mediocre, and wasn't even good at the basics of petty crime. His whole life had been defined by inadequacy until he decided to become the Top, and then suddenly everything began falling into place: he learned all he needed to know, and soon his intelligence had considerably increased. He was now the achiever he’d always been pushed to be, and felt intense satisfaction at his personal triumph. He basked in the respect and envy received from others.

However, the problem with pulling yourself up by the bootstraps is the nagging fear that it will all disappear. One day he could revert back to average intelligence, and perhaps his psionic powers might fizzle out or he’d lose the ability to spin. But he was determined to prevent that from happening, and jealously hung on to belief in his own accomplishments because no one was allowed to see his weaknesses. Piercing his armour could take away everything he’d ever worked for, so he maintained some distance from others with his arrogance. He could build a nuclear bomb, spin at super-speed, rewrite another person’s mind, and distinguish between vintages of wine; he knew he was better than everyone else. He just _had_ to be.


End file.
